Yaesu 2900 Review

So it's been a few months now that I've been using my Yaesu 2900, and I decided it was time to post a full blown review. I believe I've used it enough to give a fair review of it, and so here goes.

First of all, I have no doubt that I will be continuing to use this radio for some time to come. It's worked perfectly in every environment that I've tossed it in, and overall, I'm quite pleased with it. It works great, has a good amount of power, a great price, etc. It draws almost no power in receive mode, and I was able to operate a 12 hour contest with a 35 amp hour battery without even coming close to draining it (Granted, I wasn't transmitting for anywhere near 12 hours...)

There are a few quirks, ones which I'm not sure how unique they are. The two biggest things that get me are the following:

• The speaker is on the bottom of the radio. If it is placed on a flat surface, this will greatly reduce the sound volume. Even just placing it on a wire has a huge effect in the amount of sound that comes out.
• The menu operations aren't really grouped in a logical sense. I would like to see the PL tone and the names grouped closer together, in particular. Still, it gets the job done.
• I know there is a way to detect PL tones, but I haven't been able to figure it out quite yet. The instructions could be made a bit clearer, for sure...

However, not withstanding, I would recommend this as a good starter radio, it's been fantastic for me!